Isn't it simply a matter of having too much stuff? I know all about too much stuff as I've been here (1200 sq. ft) for the 3 of us for 25 years and I'm overwhelmed with all the stuff we've collected over that time, thinking the material could be useful and it never was. I watch as others in similar straits don't consider serious weeding out, but instead buy larger houses!
I remember when I moved here, how everything I owned fit in the back of the slide-in camper I had lived in. I look around me now in despair wondering how I can manage to get it all under control in a few years so I can get out once my son is on his own. The two of us are rattling around in this huge place now, where 4 rooms stay unoccupied all the time. I never did succeed in getting it all clean at the same time, unlike the 10 minutes it took to get the camper hospital clean. I'm tired of being a slave to it all, paying the huge bills it demands, and can't wait to get out from under it and back to being free again.
--tully